1. Field
One feature relates to protecting wireless transmissions, and, more particularly, to a method for protecting broadcasts of unsecured and/or unencrypted copyrighted content by using a channel hopping scheme in lieu of content encryption.
2. Background
Increasingly, mobile devices, such as cellular phones, are capable of receiving and storing multimedia content. For example, a mobile device may have a video camera that allows the mobile device to generate and store video content. As another example, a mobile device may be equipped with a receiver that allows it to receive satellite or terrestrial television signals, such as, MediaFLO® signals which are delivered over a forward link only network from a content provider. Although the mobile device may be capable of displaying the content itself, a user of the device may desire to wirelessly transmit the content to a larger display device, such as a television, in order to view the content on a larger screen.
For example, while at home or work, a user of a mobile device capable of receiving MediaFLO® television signals may desire to wirelessly transmit the received video content to a television set within the same room as the mobile device. Thus, the user intends to transmit the content locally and does not desire to broadcast the content to other unauthorized receivers. However, depending on the transmission power and receiver antenna capability, the content may be unintentionally propagated to a larger region. However, such content may be subject to copyrights laws and/or be private to the user of the mobile device. Thus, broadcasting such content to a larger region may be undesirable, and even illegal. This is especially problematic if the content transmitted is not subject to traditional forms of content security, such as encryption.
Therefore, there exists a need to protect unencrypted content during transmission to a receiving device to prevent unauthorized receivers from accessing the content.